Petition filed against the complex on suspicion of construction offenses • "Offenses of unprecedented scope, authorities were rubber stamped"

• Will be closed due to construction offenses? IKEA branch in Eshtaol

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  Photo: Schlager Media

The Jerusalem District Attorney's Office filed an administrative petition this morning (Thursday) with the city's Administrative Court against the decision of the Jerusalem District Planning and Construction Appeals Committee, which subsequently approved building offenses at the IKEA Eshtaol complex. 

The state claims that "the scope of construction offenses is about 9,500 square meters of a building that exceeds about 25,000 square meters, which is done in a crawling but deliberate purpose of planning and licensing by the 'Salami' method, while claiming that the violations are" With the highest level of hardware and unprecedented scope. "

The petition stated that this is an exceptional case where the district plaintiff petitioned the court against a decision of the Appeal Committee, which a similar case happened in the past in connection with the construction of the IKEA store in Rishon Lezion and in some other cases. But on the opinion of the Attorney General (civil case), Erez Kaminitz, was unlucky about this course of action, because "a program whose illegality is so severe requires taking exceptional steps such as this petition."

The petition, filed by attorney Yoav Dor, Moran Brown and Nadav Bienbaum, alleged that the Ikea Eshtaol store was set up on an area of ​​approximately 25,000 sq.m. Under a previous plan, which referred to a commercial building of 17,000 square meters and approved by the District Committee, building offenses and building permits were approved by the local planning and construction committee in Metah Yehuda, which were not compatible with the plans in effect. The intention was also to change this plan through Another plan - which contradicts the district outline plan, and requires the approval of the district committee.

After approving the commercial building plan, the local committee of Metz Yehuda approved the construction of the construction offenses and increased the commercial space to 25,000 square meters, with artificial separation so that part of the building is supposedly used for storage and offices, with the entire store as a whole Commerce, according to a petition filed.

The petition states that it is "an extreme case of construction offenses that constitutes a serious violation of the rule of law," he further argues, "This is a definite case where construction preceded planning, placing facts on the ground, and the design was not intended to be a rubber stamp to prepare the improperly constructed construction. And the moves that preceded it. " The petition also states that "the approval of a plan submitted by a large commercial company and retrospective instrument of such serious and unusual construction offenses leads to a violation of public trust and equality before the law."

The Prosecutor's Office said the petition was filed "to prevent a serious violation of the rule of law, in the fight to stop the state blow of construction offenses, to advance construction planning, putting facts on the ground, and then appeal to the authorities to form a rubber stamp to legalize illegal construction."

Maikea said in response : "Ikea is not the owner of the property but leases it from its owner and is therefore not involved in the legal process."